According to recent reports, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure emphasized the need for a greater number of euro-denominated stablecoins in Europe, and encouraged banks across the EU to explore the potential of tokenized deposits. This shift in stance was apparent on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
Lescure expressed his support for Qivalis, a consortium of 12 European banks, including prominent institutions such as BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, which plan to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the latter half of 2026. The goal of this initiative is to challenge the dominance of the US in the digital payments sector. Lescure stated, "This is what we need, and this is what we want.
I strongly encourage banks to further investigate the launch of tokenized deposits." He also expressed dissatisfaction with the relatively low volume of euro-pegged stablecoins compared to those pegged to the US dollar. This marks a departure from the stance of former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who previously advocated for strict regulations against privately issued fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, citing concerns over national sovereignty.
More recently, the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, warned of the potential risks associated with stablecoins and tokenized private money, including the threat of privatization of money and loss of monetary sovereignty.